Electric cloth-cutter.



No. 640,I92. Patented lan. 2, |900. F. GARDNER.

ELECTRIC CLOTH CUTTER.

(Application led Jan. 13, 1898.

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Patented Ian. 2, |900. F. GARDNER.

ELECTRIC CLOTH CUTTER.

(Application fxled Jan. 13, 1898.)

(N0 Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

FULTON GARDNER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ELECTRIC CLOTH-CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 640,192, dated January2, 1900.

Application filed January 13, 1898. Serial No. 666,493. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FULTON GARDNER, a citi- Zen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Electric RotaryCutters, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this speciiication.

My invention relates to a rotary electric cutter for cutting cloth andother similar materials, my object being to provide an improved andnovel construction whereby the cutter may be vefficiently and eectivelyoperated, and, furthermore, to provide means for readily adjusting thecutter to knives of different sizes.

I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure l is a viewin elevation of the rotary cutter of my invention.Fig. 2 is a plan view of the rotary cutter. Fig. 3 is a partialsectional view of the cutter. Fig. 4 is a view of the bottom of thebase-plate, illustrating the mechanisms for raising the shearing device.Fig. 4a is a detail view of the raising and shearing nger. Fig. 5 is asectional View on line 5 5, Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 66, Fig. 5.

Like letters refer to like parts inthe several figures.

The base-plate o; is preferably mounted upon rollers a a and supportsthe standard or plate b, the lower end of which is securely fastened tothe base-plate. Upon the rear of the standard h is a plate c, adjustablymounted upon the standard b. The plate c carries the brackets c c2,which support the electric motor and the shaft of the rotary knife, thebracket c' being secured to the plate c by means of bolts cs c3, whilethe bracket c2 is secured to said plate c by means of bolts c4 c4. Theplate c carries a bolt d, which extends through a slot d', provided inthe standard @and a nut d2 screws upon the end of said bolt and againsta washer cl3 to clamp the plate c against the standard h. At the upperend of the standard b is provided a slot c, into which extends a lug c',provided upon the face of plate c, and a thumb-screw c2 passes freelythrough the upper end of the standard and engages a tapped hole in thelug c and rests by its end against the bottom of the slot c. A plate c3is mounted against the end of the lug c by means of a screw e'l to guidethe plate c. By loosening the nut d2 and turning the screw c2 the platec may be raised or lowered, as desired, and clamped in any positionthrough the agency of the nut d2. The shaft f, which carries the rotaryknife f', is journaled in a bearing provided upon the bracket c2, andthe knife rests in the recess b', formed in the face of the standard b.Au arc-shaped guard-plate f2 fits against the face of the standard l)and incloses and guards the upperhalf of the periphery of therotaryknife. The guard-plate is held in position by means of thethumbscrews f3 f3. A slot h2 is provided in the standard b to permit theadjustment of the shaft f. A collar f4 is preferably provided upon theshaft f, which fits in the corresponding recess to prevent thelongitudinal movemeut of the shaft. The plate comprising the standard bis preferably cut into such form that the central portion of the handlegis formed integral with the standard, pieces g g' being mounted uponopposite sides of this central portion to provide a iirm handhold,whereby the cutter may be moved and guided over a cutting-table.

The electric motor which drives the rotary knife is mounted with itsaxis in a vertical position. A hollow spindle or shaft h is secured atthe upper end in the bracket c and is joined to a solid portion h',which is threaded at the lower end and screws into a shell or supporth2, adapted to be secured in any position by means of a set-screw 71,3.Upon the hollow spindle or shaft h, which is thus held stationary, ismounted a disk 7c, which is held in position by a set-screw 7c. Upon theperiphery of the disk 7c is mounteda cage 7a2, which surrounds andincloses the motor to prevent the hands or other objects from coming incontact with the moving parts thereof. The field-magnet 76301:' themotor is mounted fixedly upon the spindle h, and the winding 7a4 thereofis connected with conductors h5 k6, which extend through the hollowinterior of the spindle. Rotating about the spindle is a disk Z, betweenwhich and a disk Z the armature-core Z2 is mounted, the core being woundwith the armature-coils Z3. To

the lower end of the disk Z is secured the bevel-gear Z4, which mesheswith bevel-gear Z5, mounted upon the end of shaft f. The bevel-gear Z4preferably rests upon the shell h2, so that the weight of the motor maynot come upon the bevel-gears. Upon the face of the disk Z are providedsegments m m of a commutator, which are connected with thearmature-coils, these segments being arranged in a circle, and upon thesegments rest the brushes m m, from which extend the conductors o o. Theconductors o o are connected, respectively, with the bindingposts o2 03,Fig. 2. The opposite sides of the supply-circuit are connected withbindingposts o4 o5, from which extend conductors to the contacts oG 07of the switch, the arms oS o9 of which are connected one with thebiliding-post o2 and the other with the conductor 795, while theconductor 7u is connected with binding-post o3. The circuit of the motoris thus traced from binding-post o5 to contact '07, thence through theswitch to contact o9, to conductor Z55, through the binding-post of thefield-magnet to conductor 7c, bindingpost 03, through the armature ofthe motor to binding-post o2, thence through the switcharm os to contacto, to binding-post o4, to the opposite side of the line. The connectionis this fora series motor, although a shunt or other form of motor maybe employed when desired. Vhile I have described a specific form ofmotor, which I preferably employ, it is evident that other forms ofmotors may be employed without departing from the spirit of myinvention. I preferably employ, however, an electric motor of the typeillustrated, wherein the field-magnet is placed upon the interior of asurrounding rotating armature. By this construction the core of thearmature, which may be made of any desired weight, serves as a ily-wheelto store up energy, which produces an effective rotation of the circularknife that is not materially impeded even when cutting through thethickest cloth or layers of cloth. Furthermore, the provision ofanexterior rotating armature increases materially the lever-arm throughwhich the magnetic driving force acts, thereby increasing the torque ofthe motor for a given exterior dimension of the motor. I usually formthe circular knife with as small a diameter as is consistent with thework to be done, so that the lever-arm of the resistance met by thecutting edge of the knife will be as small as possible. The aboveconstruction of motor I find particularly adapted for rotarycloth-cutters, especially where the cutter is connected with the motorthrough the agency ot' toothed gearing, which should be subjected to aslittle shock and sudden strain as possible. By providing an exteriorrotating armature I am enabled to entirely dispense with a fly-wheel,thus materially reducing the weight, size, and cost of the machine.

Upon the base-plate a is pivoted a shearing-lever p, the edge of whichis preferably sharpened like the shear of a pair of scissors, and thelever when raised is adapted to shear along the surface of the circularknife to raise the cloth and at the same time sever the same, so thatthe end of the cut will be perpendicular to the face of the cloth. Thelever p is provided with a sharpened end adapted to pierce and engagethe cloth to prevent the slipping of the same during the cuttingoperation. This attachment is particularly desirable in cutting thickcloth or several layers laid together, as when it is desired to cut intothe cloth and leave the end of the incision perpendicular to the face ofthe cloth. The shearing-lever is raised to move the cloth into positionperpendicular to the cutting edge of the knife. In order that theshearing-lever may effectively coact with the rotary knife, the knife ispreferably sharpened only on the edge opposite that engaged by theshearing-lever, so as to leave the other face of the cutter smooth tocoperate with the shearing-lever. To operate the shearinglever, anoperating-lever p is pivoted to the standard at p2 and carries athumb-piece p3 on the end placed in position to be readily depressed bythe finger or thumb. The lower end of the lever p passes through a slotp4 in the base-plate and engages the end of a link p5, connected withthe end of a lever p6, pivoted at p7 and carrying upon the end a rollerp8, adapted to bear against the lower edge of the shearing-leverp. W'henthe thumb-piece is depressed to rock lever p', the lever p is rocked andcauses the roller to travel along the lower edge of the shearing-lever,thus raising the same, as shownl in Fig. l.

It will be observed that the circular knife being set within a recessprovided in the face' of the plate comprising the standard has itsperiphery entirely surrounded and inclosed with the exception of theforward and lower quadrant, which is the cutting edge--that is,- theupper half and the rear quadrant of the cutting edge of the knife areinclosed and guarded to prevent objects from coming in contacttherewith. The knife, being thus inset, is in the plane of the standard,and the section of the plate opposite the forward and lower Sector ofthe knife is cut away, Figs. l and 5, to expose both sides of the knifethroughout this portion, and the Vertical edge of the standard isbeveled or sharpened to facilitate the passage of the material beingcut.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

I. The combination with a base-plate, of a standard-plate mountedthereon, a verticallyadjustable plate mounted upon said standardplate,brackets mounted upon said adjustable plate an electric motor supportedin said brackets with the axis thereof vertical, a horizontal shaftgeared to the motor and carrying the rotary knife, an adjusting-screwfor raising and lowering the adj ustable plate,

IOO

fig'

and a clamping-screw for clamping the adj ustable plate in position,substantially as described.

2. The combination With a base-plate of a standard-plate thereon anadjustable plate mounted on said standard-plate and carrying theelectric motor, a horizontal shaft carried by said adjustable plate, aslot in the standard-plate through which said shaft passes, means foradjusting said adjustable plate in position, and a rotary knife mountedupon said shaft at the side of the standard-plate, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination with a base-plate, of a standard-plate mountedthereon, a verticallyadjustable plate mounted upon said standard- FULTONGARDNERA Witnesses:

JAMES M. COBHAM, W. CLYDE JONES.

